Kuči (Serbian Cyrillic: Кучи; pronounced [kût͡ʃi]) is one of the Highland clans of Montenegro, and is also a name of geographical region in eastern Montenegro which the clan populates. The region is located north-east of Podgorica, and extends along the border with Albania, with the Kelmend region on the other side of the border. The geographic region took the name of the tribe, historically being called Zatrijebač. Marko Miljanov Popović, writer and warrior from Kuči, is arguably the most prominent member of the tribe.
The Kuči region can be divided into three major groups:
The majority of inhabitants are Christian while a minority is Muslim.
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In a 1582/83 defter of the Ottoman Empire, Kuči had 13 villages. The majority is Serb with a minority of Catholic Albanians.[1]
Mariano Bolizza of Kotor, a servant of the Republic of Venice, wrote a report in 1614, initially for describing Sanjak of Shkodra's land routes which could best be utilized by local couriers conveying official correspondence from Venice to Constantinople and back, and to survey the military potential of the territory. He also provided a very detailed overview of towns and villages in Montenegro and northern Albania; their respective chiefs and men in arms, as well as demographics. Kuči, Bratonožići and part of Plava were under the soldiers of Medun, the spahee, but the commander was not named; and the highlanders would pay the Ottoman officials a portion of their income.[2]
The Islamization of Kuči has made a minority of inhabitants declaring as simply Montenegrins or Muslims by nationality and Bosniaks although they thrace the same origin with that of their Christian brethren.
In 1694 the Kuči were allied together with the Albanian Hoti in an uprising against the Turks. Throughout the 18th century, the Kuči fight together with the Vasojevići and the Albanians Hoti and Klimente in resistance against the Ottoman Empire.
A famous story about the Kuči is one from the 18th century; the Turks advanced in Zeta towards Kuči and the troops organized themselves at the village of Begović. The Vezir of Shkodër sat in the Begović tower. Soldiers where standing outside when the Vezir shouted to two Serbs from Oraovac who were in Ottoman service, Đulja Jovanov from Podgrađe and Iveza Vukov from Kuđani: ”Đulja, I will give you the Sultan's barjak (war flag) and you will carry it towards Kuci!", the Vezir ordered the flag to be taken by Djula. Djulja answered "My Pasha, my honour does not permit me carrying your flag towards my brothers" in which the Vezir lowered a rope from his window "Either you take the flag and carry it in front of the army, or you take this rope around your neck!". Djulja replied "God help me, for I will take the rope instead of the flag against Kuči!" and he went up on the gallows, pushed the flag to the side and took the rope, tightening it around his neck and stood himself on the batten. The Vezir warned "I will tell you this only once again, take the flag or we will remove the batten that you stand on", Djulja "I will remove it myself so that you won't need to exert your Turks, I stand by my relatives and would proudly die for them." Then a Muslim Slav named Punan Dedin, himself from the same tribe, said "At whos house is the Crow shrieking today?" Djulja replied "At mine today and yours tomorrow!" and kicked the batten, hanging himself. The Vezir turned to Iveza: "What will you take, the flag or rope?" Iveza answered: "the same as Djulja, never the flag" and walked up towards the gallows, another Muslim Slav, Sulejman Kut, a close relative of Iveza, turns to a Ali-paša Osmanagić and begs "If you are a good Turk, don't let him die!", Ali-paša stops Iveza and asks the Vezir "Honorable Pasha, can I pay for his life?" - "No" - "Can I give my son instead of him?" - "No" - "Then I will give money, my son, myself, everything for his sake, I will not let him die!". The Vezir looked carefully "Okay, I will give him to you", the soldiers cheered at the honorable gesture.
The center of resistance against the Ottomans came with Duke Marko Miljanov Popović in the 19th century, who contributed greatly to the struggle for Serb national unification and liberation.
Marko Drekalović, who with his tribe, the New Kuči, after harrying the Turks for many years, sick of Turkish rule, joined forces with Prince Nikola when a war against the Turks was proclaimed. Kuči was later included politically within the Montenegrin border after the war of 1876–1878.
The Old Kuči (Starokuči) are the founders of the Kuči clan.
The history of the Old Kuči starts with a Gojko Mrnjavčević, the brother of Serbian King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Despot Jovan Uglješa, who, after the Battle of Maritsa against the Turks in 1371 (his brothers died at the battle), fled with his family and settled in the Kuči mountains to avoid persecution by the Turks.
Gojko had a son, Nenad, which in turn had Grča (Gavrilo) and Gojko. Grča had a son, Panto Grčin (or Grčić), and his sons: Petar, Đurađ, Tiho(mir), Mara (Marin/Marko) and L(j)eš (Aleksa). Gojko had a son named Đuro.
Panto, after gaining control of the governance of Orahovo and other nearby villages, had decided to relocate his sons to key places to which he would soon control. Panto and his youngest son, Tihomir, had settled in Berovo. Đurađ, first Duke of present-day Upper Kuči, had settled in the Dučići or Liješti village. Mara has settled in Bezjovo, Lješ in Krivi Do and Petar in Ubli. However, Tihomir soon left his father in Berovo and set out somewhere along the Cijevna River and was never mentioned in history from then on. After Tihomir left Berovo, Petar returned to his father in Orahovo.
According to folk telling, Petar Pantin (or Pantović) had four sons, Marko, Andrija, Vuko (Vukašin) and Nikač. Vuko and Andrija were, however, never mentioned in any family tree in Orahovo, possibly because either they probably never bore any male offspring or had left Orahovo early in their lives. Vuko did indeed leave Orahovo and immigrated somewhere toward Malësia. Marko and Nikač, however, lived during the mid-15th century. According to folk telling, Nikač had two sons, Petar and Andrija. Petar's descendants were never mentioned, however, it is known that Andrija has a son named Nikola. Nikola had one son, named Stojan. Stojan had, according to folk telling, three sons, Vuko, Stefo and Periša. Vuko and Stefo had died of a siniter disease, called "čume" by the locals, which had caused an epidemic within the region. Soon, Stojan, and Periša's son, Stefan, had died and Periša, fearing the death of his remaining son, Vuk, left Berovo and settled in Lazorce, a village far north of Berovo, believing that "čume" will not reach the village. Periša was quickly accepted by the population in Lazorce. Periša's descendants would later become known as the Perići, a clan still existing today in Lazorce.
It is also believed through folk telling that Grča had two brothers, Krsto and Šako, who were the founding fathers of the Kastrati and Shaljani tribes. Many Mrnjavčevićs crossed over to Islam, among the most notable the Ganići in Rožaje and Radonjičići (today Radončić) in Gusinje.
There are sources that point that the Kelmendi clan of Malesia are of Serb origin[3][4][5], that the founder came from the Morača[6] i.e. Piperi[5] i.e. Herzegovina[7]. A certain Klmen (or Amati) from Kuči settled first in Hoti then re-settled in the present clan area.[5] Among some Kelmends, Nikola Oštroumni Kolmendija (Nikola "Sharp-minded" Kolmendija) is the founding father.[8]
The founding of the New Kuči starts with the Drekalovići. The etymology of the surname is rooted in the personal name Drekale[9] which is in turn derived from the archaic Slavic name Drek[9] from the Verb Dreka (derati se) "to scream, shout, outcry", also connected to the word Drekalo[9] (Drekavac, literally "the screamer"[10]), the name for a mythological creature in Serbian folklore, a bogeyman (registered in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro).[11]
There are various legends about a certain Drekale Panjković, who, if not descending of the Old Kuči, according to Montenegrin traditions had settled in Kuči with his mother (named Gruba or Irena) in the mid-16th century. The two main legends are: Drekale was a descendant of Serbian Emperor Dušan the Mighty through his mother, alternatively Gruba had been married to a Nikeza (Nikač, Nikola, possibly father/stepfather of Drekale) of the Mrnjavčević family (Old Kuči), great-great-grandson of Gojko, a brother of Vukašin Mrnjavčević, a 14th-century King of Serbia.
According to Albanian national tellings, Drekale was a grandson of George Kastrioti Scanderbey himself, through his son John. Another popular telling suggests that the Drekalovići descend from the Albanian-Malësor Kastrati tribe possibly from the remaining enclave of Albanians in the town of Koja e Kuçit.
Drekale's son Lale Drekalov is the true founder of the Drekalović Kuči brotherhood, from him sprang over 800 houses. Serbian Patriarch John II Kantul wanted to raise initiatives in an attempt to raise a general national rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, it organized meetings of Serb chiefs. In 1608 Lale attended one such in the Morača monastery and in 1613 the second one in the Kuči.
Lale Drekalov had married twice, he had Vuk from his first marriage and four sons in his second, the most important being Iliko. In 1658 Iliko became Duke of the Kuči. In the following 30 years Iliko's son Ivan came to prominence as also Duke. From then onwards sprang Iliković brotherhood, which made up to half of all Drekalovics. Vuk crossed over to Islam and became the forefather of the Turkovići in Podgorica. These all Kucis hence became known as "the New Kuči".
The ethnic Albanian Banjkani clan claims descent from the House of Crnojević.
Zatrijebač (Triesh), though located in the historical Kuči region in Montenegro, is not part of the Kuči clan but is one of the seven Albanian highland clans. Families that make up Zatrijebač are:
There are over 15,000 residents in Kuči, with over 3,000 homes. Three ethnic groups, ethnic Montenegrins, Montenegrin Serbs and Montenegrin Albanians live together in Kuči. The first two groups may be regarded as one, as some families may politically be split between the two, with one brother being a Montenegrin and another being a Serb. Most of the Montenegrins/Serbs are followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while a minority are Muslims. Most of the Albanians are followers of the Roman Catholic Church living in the town of Koja e Kuçit.
Christian Orthodox residents used to be split into two distinct groups: Old Kuči ("Starokuči") and Drekalovićs/New Kuči. The Old Kuči is generally seen as being of Serb descent and are native or have settled in the area at the time of the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. The New Kuči (generally referred to as "Drekalovići") are a large group of clans (bratstva) that share a common legendary ancestor - a certain Drekale. The Drekalovics are dated to the 17th century.
Major place of Kuči is Ubli village, which has about 1,500 residents. In Ubli are situated major institutions of Kuči like Culture Hall, Elementary School 'Đoko Prelević', Hospital, police station, and a former fabric factory. Ubli is situated in central Kuči with the center and villages of Prelevići, Pavićevići, Živkovići, Kostrovići, etc. Other villages are: Medun, Orahovo, Fundina, Koći, Kržanja, Kosor, Vrbica, Stravče, Zagreda, Raći in Gornji Kuči and Doljani, Murtovina, Stara Zlatica, Zlatica in Donji Kuči. There is still a remaining enclave of Albanians in the village of Koći (Koja in Albanian), making the clan of Koja e Kuçit.